Rescued by the Major (Winter Rescue)

4. Eva

4

EVA

Anders works on my feet. Gentle pressure in the arch that pushes back toward my heel, then up into my calf, before swooping back down to the ball of my foot. The pins and needles pain fades as he works, alternating between my feet in his lap. The muscles that have been so stiff and rigid ease back as I submit to the relaxation working through my body. It may be strange to find myself in the cabin of a man I just met after he saved me from freezing to death, but I feel truly safe for the first time in a while.

My eyes drift closed, the exhaustion I knew was lurking finally pressing forward and taking me over. Maybe it’s the warmth, the relief or simply the fact that I’m no longer alone, but something like contentment settles over me and I fall asleep.

When I wake, the light from the fire has dimmed, but there’s a delicious weight beside me and I’m so comfortably warm that I instantly want to snuggle back into it. Except when I press back, I feel the hard planes of a chest behind me, and the muscled arm around my waist flexes to hold me close.

The warmth I’d felt changes instantly, turning molten in my veins as my body responds to the nearness of this intriguing man who’s sharing the space with me, the whisper of his breath against the back of my neck tickling the hairs there.

“Feeling all right?”

The question is innocuous, but the way my body instantly responds to that low voice is anything but. The tightening in my lower belly, the ache starting even lower, and the way I can’t seem to draw enough air into my lungs, all because of the breath ghosting over my skin.

“Yes.” I cough to clear my throat and almost gasp at the way his hands spread over my stomach, like he’s determined to keep me close even with that simple movement. “We fell asleep.”

It’s a simple, unnecessary observation, but it comes out of my mouth before I can stop it. Proof of my nervousness. His laugh, though, chases away some of the insecurity I’m feeling. It’s genuine and kind, not mocking or cruel.

“Can’t blame either one of us for that, I guess,” he says, and I feel his lips against the back of my head for a fleeting moment, an almost kiss that I catch myself wishing was real. “Cuddling was the perfect way to get warm and we were both worn out after the trek back here. Perfectly normal.”

Trying to sound cool and unaffected when I feel completely otherwise, I shrug. “We burned a lot of calories. It was quite the exercise.”

He laughs again and this time my stomach flips at how gravelly it is as I realize what other type of exercise he might be thinking of. Other ways we could burn calories together. Except that I’m not that type of woman. I'm not the one who could bring a man to his knees in an instant, to make him want me so much immediately. No, I’ve never been her. I’m the one a man grows to like, after he gets to know her, finds her cuter as the time goes by.The woman a man settles for.

Except, sometimes, I want to be that first woman. At least once.

In the safety of this cabin, in the comforting red glow from the fireplace, I wonder how that woman would act right now. If she were here instead of me.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks, and his hand moves, stroking swirling little circles over the skin of my belly. “You just went all tense. Something wrong?”

The sense of being separated from the real world pushes down on me and the answer slips from me as my defenses collapse. “That I’m not this kind of girl.”

He chuckles, and shifts, gathering me a little closer so the heat from him soaks into me in even more places. “What kind of girl would that be?” His voice has turned husky, and I wish I could see what he looks like. Except that maybe because I can't see him, I can answer honestly again.

“The kind who wakes up next to a handsome man and knows what to do.”

His fingers go still, and embarrassment heats my face as I realize I’ve shocked him. Stepped across some line that I once again missed.

Except then he says, “You think I’m handsome?”

The urge to twist in his arms, to look him in the eyes and chase away the vulnerability I can hear beneath those words, hits me and I start to roll. His arms, though, lock down around me, and hold me in place, where I can feel every inch of him, all the muscles and sinews of his hard-earned body. Even the press of something long and hard digging into the softness of my butt. Why he won't let me see him I don't know, but there's no reason not to follow the path I've started down.

I close my eyes, and sigh. “So handsome. Like some hero in a book come to life. Finding me in the middle of a snowstorm, getting me to some place safe and warm, holding me while I sleep. Reminding me that someone in the world cares.”

Silence stretches between us and the fear that I’ve said too much almost strangles me. Then his lips drop to the exposed skin on the side of my neck and press in there. Again, that trace of a breath raises the tiny hairs, and I can’t help but whimper and tip my head as far as I can, offering him greater access.

“Eva,” he whispers, and I shiver, making him growl low. “You’re tempting me right now.”

“Good. Then maybe I’m actually doing this right.”